


Stumbled Upon

by gaynahmontana



Category: Carol (2015)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Love at First Sight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 03:26:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17717156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaynahmontana/pseuds/gaynahmontana
Summary: Therese Belivet goes to university, where she can learn more about her passion, psychology. Little does she know that one specific ethics professor, Mrs Aird, would be the thing that she wants to know anything and everything about. She would love to major in that subject."Love is that micro-moment of warmth and connection that you share with another living being"- Barbara L. Fredrickson





	1. Apologies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey fellow lesbians and everyone else!
> 
> This is my first fanfiction that I have decided to publish :) I don't know much about these things, but I have read dozens of other fics so I think that I know what I am doing... Maybe? Please, if you decide to read this, enjoy!
> 
> Also, I want to tell yall that English is not my first language... Or second, but my third! So this can (and it will) include some grammar errors... But at least I tried!

She doesn’t know what she is doing. She never does. So when she is standing in front of her new school, she wonders what on Earth did she do to deserve be in this position. The school was all about psychology, her favorite subject. It feels like a dream come true, too good to be true. 

She has always enjoyed psychology, ever since she was a child. She was always borrowing books from the library that were about human relationships, how emotions work and why people act the way that they act. Psychology has interested her, because everyone knew something about it. Everyone has experienced it. But no one has experienced it at the same time, as others. And now she got to study it. To major in it. 

She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, counts to ten and relaxes her shoulders. Then she starts her journey. She walks to the school’s porch, opens it and gets inside. It is going to be a lot to handle, but she will manage through it. She always has. Nobody knows her here. Nobody knows all the mistakes that she has made. It is a new beginning.

Her name is Therese. She is 22 years old and that’s about it. That is everything that Therese knows about herself. She also knows that her parents named her after her mother’s mother, who died when she gave birth to Therese’s mother. She knows that she is witty and intelligent in some spectrums. She also knows that people forget about her easily.

“Hello! You must be a newbie! My name is Genevieve and if you have any questions about the university, I would be more than happy to answer”, a brunette young woman smiles. Therese smiles back in a friendly manner, all though she knows that she will never meet this stranger again. Or remember her name after this conversation. But being a decent human being couldn’t hurt, could it?

“Hey, I’m Therese but you can call me Terry. That is very nice of you, I will keep that in mind! Thank you, Gillian”, she smiles, nods politely and moves past her.

“It is Genevieve, actually!”, the girl quips after her. Therese waves to her over her shoulder and apologizes. Oh, maybe she has worse memory than she can recall. How ironic. 

She is so caught up in the situation that she does not notice someone standing in front of her until it’s too late. They bump into each other. Therese curses under her breath and falls backwards, while the stranger stands in front of her, as if nothing ever happened.

“Oh my! Are you alright, dear? I am so terribly sorry, I didn’t watch where I was going”, a smooth voice, full of concern, rambles over her. Therese takes a deep breath and lifts her gaze upwards. Her mind goes blank.

In front of her is the most breathtaking woman that she has ever seen. She doesn’t know how to respond, how to act nor what to do. So she just sits up and stares the woman a bit longer than necessary. The woman frowns.

“Can you hear me, darling? Are you feeling okay? Can you get up by yourself?”, the woman keeps asking her so many questions that it is difficult to understand what she is trying to say. She sounds like the people in The Sims, it seems like she is speaking but Therese cannot put a finger on the meaning of the words. She is awestruck. 

Then the beautiful and elegant woman offers her her hand. Therese doesn’t hesitate, she just grabs it and within seconds she is standing up in front of the woman. “Hey there. Are you feeling well?”, the woman asks the same question, but in a different form.

“Yes… Yes, I am. I am terribly sorry about the collision, I should have looked where I was going instead of just… Yeah”, Therese rambles. To her surprise, the woman just laughs. A hearty laugh that Therese would love to record, just so she could play it over and over again.

“You are just basically repeating everything I was saying a minute ago. But please, do not apologize! It was as much my mistake, as it was yours”, the blonde woman smiles and squeezes Therese’s hand. They haven’t let go, and Therese doesn’t even want that to happen.

“Oh… I guess that I was a bit out of it a minute ago”, Therese laughs nervously and feels the blush starting to cover her face. Damn it. The woman seems to enjoy this awkward show that Therese is putting up in front of her. 

“It seems awfully like it, doesn’t it?”, she smirks. It makes Therese blush even more, which only causes the older woman’s smirk to widen. “I am Carol, by the way. Carol Aird”.

“Carol…”, Therese repeats quietly, only to herself. Just to test out how the name feels in her mouth. “Oh, how rude of me! I am Therese Belivet”, she says quickly. They don’t need to shake hands because their hands are still in contact. 

“Therese… What a beautiful name”, Carol smiles warmly and squeezes Therese’s hand one more time until she lets go of it. “So, I assume that you are feeling alright?”

Therese is feeling more than alright. She is over the moon. “Yes, thank you for asking”, she replies instead. “I just got here today and apparently I was too excited to learn psychology so I decided to walk blindly”, Therese laughs a bit awkwardly. 

“Ah, yes. The famous Bird Box-challenge has found its way to the campus”, Carol gives a laugh. Therese cannot help it, but laughs as well. “But I should let you go and find your courses! I am teaching ethics in the second floor. So if you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to come and visit me”, she smiles. 

“I won’t”, Therese smiles back to her. “See you around, Therese”, Carol says and with that, she is gone.

Therese breathes in deeply and starts to walk to the opposite direction. What the hell was that? Should she think something more of it? Well, whether the answer to that question is positive or negative, Therese will be overthinking the situation anyways. 

Carol Aird has walked into Therese’s life less than a half an hour ago and she has already messed it up. If it is a good thing or a bad thing… Well, the future will tell it to her. But for now it feels like a good thing. Therese’s blouse smells like Carol, her ears keep repeating her voice over and over again and all her senses just scream for her.

“This cannot be normal and I need to tone down the gay”, Therese mumbles to herself, fixes her bangs and walks to one of the study rooms. The tile on the door said that it was the class for social psychology. Therese’s timetable said that it would be held by Professor Gerhard.


	2. Exploring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Therese meets fellow students and starts to feel a bit more at ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I wanna thank everyone of you for reading and commenting! It means everything to me, and I am so excited to share more chapters with you :) My heart is so full after all the love that you guys have sent to my way! I would've never thought that this would be so exciting and amazing!  
> I hope that you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, I care about y'all a lot! <3

Therese sighs and tries to find her way back to the campus-area at the end of the day. She had arrived late on the first day, so she needed to go straight to her lecture without even taking a second glance at the campus. She only had time to drop off her one, pathetic suitcase to her dorm room. Therese doesn’t even know her roommate. She knows that she has one, but didn’t feel the urge to know more about them beforehand.

Her lectures had went well. Professor Gerhard had been very professional, but also much goofier than Therese had expected. She had insisted that everyone calls her Abby, but there was many more odd cases. For example, when they had talked about group behaviours, she had compared Laissez-Faire leadership to the leadership that her last workplace’s principal used. “He surely gave us directions, but it was another story when there was a question if he could take a part in the ‘Why is almost the whole staff complaining about positive clap-results’-discussion… It was the only positive thing that we had in that work environment, I will tell you that much kids”, she had smirked. 

Finally, Therese finds the right door. She opens the door and looks around. Someone has been there, but thankfully the place was empty now. Therese looks horrific, it had truly been a long day. She goes straight to her suitcase and starts to unpack the most necessary equipments. When the brunette has emptied most of her stuff, she cannot help her curiosity.

Therese walks over to the other half of the room and studies her roommate’s things. There are polaroid-pictures, a guitar, a lot of makeup and their bed is full of different kind of pillows. There must be at least fifteen of them, all different sizes and colors. “Great, it will be an indie millennial who listens to some odd music about murdering the World”, she murmurs to herself. Just when she is about to dig in a bit deeper, the door opens. 

Therese jumps and stares at the door wide eyed. She bet that she looks like a creep. Her hair is messy, printed t-shirt is, for sure, tainted with tears and her jeans are, as usual, broken. Therese must look like a homeless person. A young woman is standing at the door and looks at Therese with a smile on her painted red lips. 

“Oh, hey it’s you again! Terry, right?”, the striking woman asks and closes the door behind her. Her voice is warm and welcoming, which makes Therese feel a bit more at ease. 

“Yes, hi… I am sorry, but have we met before? And I don’t mean that in a rude way! By all means… My memory just sucks and my two brain cells just spin around without making any contact...”, Therese rambles. To her surprise, the woman only laughs. 

“Please, do not apologize! We met outside this morning. I am Genevieve, you can call me Gen though, and I tend to remember everything… It is not unusual that people forget about things, it is how normal humans work. I am just a person that remembers when that bitch Hannah forgot to invite me to her birthday party when we were eight”, Genevieve chuckles, which makes Therese smirk widely. 

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you again, Genevieve. And I wasn’t snooping around, I just…”, Therese starts to ramble again. “You were watching my things, and it is understandable. I was going to do the same thing, but… Well, your suitcase was locked”, the long brunette ended the sentence for Therese. Both women shared a laugh at this. 

After a minute, there is a knock at the door. They both don’t suppress their wonder and curiosity. Genevieve opens the door, and greets the person behind it. Therese walks over to her bed and sits down on it. Genevieve is chatting away with the stranger at the door, and Therese decides to fold her own clothes. 

“Oh, how rude of me! Therese, this is Dannie. We met at the lobby this morning, he is studying moral philosophy! Dannie, this is Therese. She’s my roommate”, Genevieve smiles and gestures between the two of them. They exchange greetings and smiles. 

“Oh please, moral philosophy… It sounds way too fancy, even coming out of your mouth, Gen. I like to say that I study ethics. It sounds more understandable and not that braggy”, Dannie snorts and walks into the room. He goes and sits on Genevieve’s bed. Therese notices that he tosses some of the dozens pillows down to the floor and tries to suppress her laugh. 

“I never had the chance to ask you, Genevieve… But what are you studying?”, Therese asks and turns her gaze to the other woman, who is now picking the pillows from the floor. “Oh, I am studying mostly developmental and child psychology”, she smiles at Therese and hits Dannie with one of the purple pillows. 

“That is so interesting! I am studying mostly social psychology, but if I’m being honest… I study basically everything that has even something to do with psychology. Everything is just so different, but still the same. They all seem to have this one wire that connects all of the aspects together! But still… They are completely different in their own way. Just like humans, we all share the same basics but nevertheless, none of us are the same”, Therese rambles. Dannie and Genevieve just stare at her, which makes her blush. “I am sorry for rambling”

“Don’t be! That was basically all my thoughts put together”, Genevieve exhales and smiles. Dannie gives Therese an encouraging smile as well. 

“But anyways! Ladies, I need to tell you something about my day. This ethics professor, Mrs Aird… You two will not believe her! She just radiates this warm energy. Like everyone wants to do something for her. Anything! Hell, I would even be honoured to polish her shoes! I heard one girl whisper that she could drive over her and she would just say thank you”, Dannie laughs. Therese forgets how to breathe in seconds. 

“And she is making teaching interesting. It is like she actually cares about our wellbeing and that we actually understand these things. This one girl coughed in class and she told us her best tips to avoid flu”, he continues. Therese can’t hide her smile. Carol is such an interesting person and she wants to know everything about her. She wants to know her Starbucks order and her shoe size. She wants to know if her hair is naturally blonde, or what she was like in high school. 

“But anyhow, I am hungry. Would you two like to go out and eat some sushi?”, Dannie sighs and gets up. Genevieve agrees immediately and they start to walk towards the door. “Therese? Are you coming?”, she asks. 

“Sure, let me change my shirt and I will be right behind you”, Therese smiles. Dannie tells her that if she doesn’t hurry up, he will eat her like a slice of pizza. She rolls her eyes at him. With that, they leave Therese alone in the room.

Therese can’t stop thinking about Carol. The fact that she is so friendly to everyone makes her heart swell. She is so beautiful, inside and out. She is unbelievable. Therese takes a deep breath and changes her t-shirt to a hoodie. She will get updates from Carol daily, it seems. Dannie feels like that kind of person, whom needs to vent about everything to everyone. Therese smiles to herself.

She has met three people today and they all seem to make a change in her life, sooner or later. She couldn’t thank her lucky stars enough. Therese closes her eyes for a bit, and sees those blue eyes again. Those delicate smile lines. She opens her eyes and shakes her head. Therese then grabs her phone, wallet and shoes, and springs after her two new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... That's that ;) Thoughts?
> 
> PS. Don't worry, Carol will be in the next chapter!


	3. Babbling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Therese isn't a morning person, but she surely likes arriving to university.

It has been almost two weeks since Therese had stepped into the university lifestyle. Which basically only means studying late, getting less sleep than usual, eating take out more than necessary and hanging out with Genevieve and Dannie. The three of them have spent many hours together, they usually even study in the same room, just to avoid feeling lonely. Dannie is like a third roommate to the two women, and no one seems to have a problem with it. 

Therese’s alarm rings at quarter past eight. She groans and buries her face in a pillow. It is too early for getting ready, yet alone learning something new. “Good morning, sunshine. I’m leaving now! Gosh, I will never understand how you can get ready so fast… Anyways, I will meet you in the lobby before our lectures start! Dannie has your jacket and he said that he will bring it to you today”, Genevieve’s voice interrupts Therese’s mourning. She only grunts in response. And with that, the other woman is gone.

After five minutes, Therese gets herself out of the bed. She changes her old and grey t-shirt to a black top, and throws a warm-toned cardigan over it. She checks the time. She has less than ten minutes to be in the other building. “Fuck”, Therese mutters and starts to put her ripped jeans on faster. 

She gets out of her dorm in two minutes, because she decided to wear a beanie today. There is no way that she would have the time, nor the patience, to deal with her hair at this right moment. She is running to the main building and trying to put her shoes on at the same time. The task seems to be a lot more difficult than a person could think of. 

Therese is almost at the main building when she hears a laugh. _The laugh._ The laugh that she has missed during these few weeks. She turns her gaze to the general direction of the sound. Then she sees her. Carol is getting out of a silver car, and next to her is Abby. Carol is wearing a suit, of course. It is a soft pink suit, and Therese feels like her cheeks match the color. 

A lot happens in that moment. Carol lifts her head and brushes some of her hair out of her face. Then their eyes meet. Blue ocean meets green forest. Both of them seem to freeze for a moment. Carol offers Therese a small smile, which Therese returns immediately. The younger woman is scared to breathe or blink. This moment makes her feel at ease. Like it is something that she has missed her whole life and now she is receiving it.

After what feels like an eternity, Abby says something to Carol that makes her look at the other professor. Therese sighs, runs a hand over her bare face and continues her path to the university building. She needs to control herself, it is not that big of a deal. She needs to accept the fact that she is going to see Carol many times. She cannot freeze everytime their eyes meet or she hears her inviting voice. 

“Terry! Took you long enough!”, Dannie yells when Therese wanders in the lobby. She lifts her gaze and meets Dannie’s eyes. Genevieve is standing right beside him and she is eyeing Therese suspiciously. “Yeah, I didn’t realize that time goes by so quickly”, she huffs and walks over to her friends. 

“Here, thanks for borrowing this! My date with Peter went well, thank you very much for asking… Now he thinks that I have a good style because of your wardrobe”, Dannie rambles and offers Therese the ripped jean jacket. She grabs it with a smile and stuffs it into her bag.

Then she smells it. _The perfume._ Therese turns her gaze from the bag to straight in front of her. She meets those waiting blue eyes instantly. Carol walks past her, but it feels like she had planned this whole eye contact-thing. Or Therese is just a desperate girl, who wants to believe that the hot professor has a thing for her. The last option seems to be more believable.

“Hey, Mrs Aird!”, Dannie yells, when Carol has walked past them. The blonde woman stops, turns around and walks next to their little group. Therese’s eyes widen and she wants to punch Dannie for talking to her. Why is he talking to her in the first place? He is not worthy, none of us are. “Yes, Dannie?”, Carol asks with a little smile on her red lips.

Then Dannie starts to ramble about the next essay, and how he will be a bit late from some lectures because of he needs to help his brother move this week. Whenever Therese has the courage to glance at Carol, she seems to sense it. Her eyes are always there to meet hers. Therese shivers each time. 

It feels like they are communicating. They are silent, but the gaze seems to tell more than words themselves. Therese wants to die, because she looks so messy and bad today. If she had gotten up a bit earlier, she would look a lot better. And maybe Carol would notice that she isn’t that bad looking. All though, compared to Carol everyone looks like trash. Even Beyoncé for that matter.

“Everything is alright, Dannie! Thank you for sharing this information with me. I won’t question your absence”, Carol says and offers Dannie a warm smile and squeezes his arm. 

She starts to walk away again and Therese follows her with her eyes. Then the blonde woman turns around. “I like the hat”, she mouths to Therese, smiles brightly and turns to another hallway, leaving from the blushing girl’s view. 

Finally, Therese turns to look at her two friends. They both stare at her with shocked expressions. “What? What did I do now?”, Therese asks and cocks her left eyebrow.

“Oh, don’t act stupid! You truly thought that you could hide this from us, didn’t you?”, Dannie squeaks. “Therese Belivet, what has happened between you and Mrs Ocean Eyes? How dare you keep this kind of information from us!”, Genevieve smirks and punches Therese on her forearm. 

“What… What are you two talking about? Nothing is happening between me and Carol… Mrs Aird! We talked once and that’s that”, Therese mumbles and massages her forearm. She squints her eyes at Genevieve, whom just laughs and shrugs. 

“Oh, they are on a first-name basis!”, Dannie smirks, which makes Genevieve gasp excitedly. Therese huffs and starts to walk away. “You are both stupid, nothing is going on between me and Mrs Aird. She is just nice, that’s all”, she states.

“You must take one of her classes! We must make this thing happen! Oh my god, then me and Dannie can say that we were there for you two ever since the beginning”, Genevieve smiles and starts to follow Therese. She just rolls her eyes, but can’t help the smile that has formed on her lips.

“Let’s get this bread!”, Dannie yells excitedly and throws his fist in the air. Therese calls him an idiot and laughs. She is just glad that her friends are like this and they are not judgemental. Lord knows what is going to happen, but it is good to know that Therese has people that have her back.

\- - - - - - - - - - 

“They are talking about you, you know?”, Abby smirks as she approaches Carol. The blonde woman huffs and rolls her eyes. “Abigail, you are such a comedian” 

“No, for real! I walked past them after you left. First of all, I see why you prefer the short brunette. It is easy to make her blush and stutter, it’s charming. Second of all, they were all totally checking you out!”, Abby claims and gets shushed by the other professor. 

“And nice move with the hat-thing, you nitwit”, the brunette says, more quietly this time. Carol chuckles and turns to look at her dear friend. “It is all fun and games now, Carol. But please, tell me that you know what you’re doing. What you’re sacrificing and messing around with”, the other woman says seriously. 

“I don’t. I never do”, Carol says earnestly. “But there is something about her, Abby. I can’t describe it, but as soon as our gazes met for the first time… I just knew that I can’t turn back”, she says quietly.

Abby looks at her friend and offers a small smile. “She truly is something special, isn’t she? Just be careful, she’s young and seems to be smitten already”, she warns and walks away.

“Then I guess it makes two of us”, Carol mumbles to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if you have something that you would love to read in the future! :)
> 
> I love to visualize some of the stuff that I mention, so here's Carol's suit: https://on.gucci.com/2TYXxXy


	4. Night-time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Therese loves to study in the library, but she often loses the track of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so terribly sorry for the delay! It has been ALMOST A WHOLE MONTH since I last updated, ugh!  
> I have been studying 8-12 hours everyday, since my finals are coming up! :( Luckily this will be over at the end of March!  
> I finally got this chapter together, so please, enjoy!

The campus library has become Therese’s second favorite place, after her own dorm. The library was always full of different people, but still everyone looks like they belong there. Everyone has a task to accomplish. A dark skinned young woman with space buns was always sitting in the corner with her orange backpack, a bit older pale man with round glasses, trashy blonde hair and a beanie was usually on his laptop on the couch and Therese was most of the time seated in a red seat, which was around a circular table. She always had multiple notebooks and textbooks open, papers all around the table and multi-colored markers lying across everything. 

Therese remembers studying cults when she was younger. Every child has had this odd passion towards something. Genevieve told Therese that she was obsessed with Bermuda’s Triangle, whereas Dannie wanted to know everything about Cleopatra and her luxury. Today Therese supposed that she would only take a glance at some cult articles, for old time sakes, but suddenly she had been searching information about them for hours. It is amazing to the young woman to read about them, now in social psychology’s point of view. Therese just can’t decide which one is more fascinating, the way that the leaders’ minds work, or the way how the followers decide to submit to the cult. Maybe childhood obsessions never die after all.

Therese is reading about one of her personal favorite cults, Heaven’s Gate, when her phone buzzes next to her on the table. She glances at the screen and notices that it’s a text message from Genevieve.

_9:02PM - girl where are u?? i swear to god if you don’t get here asap i will tell mrs ocean eyes that you fancy her suited body and then dannie will empty your wardrobe_

Therese smirks and writes her friend a reply. It says that she is in the library and she hopes that she would have a normal roommate. Then the brunette starts to gather all her things together and puts them into her black and white patterned bag. She didn’t even notice how the day has already gone by and night has arrived. 

The young woman walks out of the library to the hallway. Some of the lights have already turned off, which makes the building look a lot cozier and welcoming. Therese takes her time and looks her surroundings a bit more closely. She has seen the paintings that highlight the walls multiple times before, but she has never paid that much attention to them. The paintings are mostly just different colored brush strokes, but now Therese sees more than just green paint meeting a swirl of blue. She sees a story. 

Therese shakes her head a bit and continues her journey back to her dorm. She has always been a thinker. A dreamer. She can fall into this set of mind, where she doesn’t even notice her surroundings. It is a blessing and a curse. Therese takes a turn to left to enter another hallway, but suddenly her journey has been distracted. 

As Therese turned to the other hallway, a certain older woman has just closed the door to her lecture hall. She turns to walk away, but meets Therese’s gaze instead. It feels like the time has been frozen. Therese can’t get herself to move to one way, or another. 

“Well, good evening, Therese! What on Earth are you doing here during these hours? Shouldn’t you be sleeping already?”, Carol asks and smiles warmly. She is wearing black rimmed glasses and Therese can’t turn her gaze away from the subject of her daydreaming sessions.

“Good evening, Carol. I was studying in the library, and didn’t realize how the time flew past me. Psychology can be so exhilarating”, Therese manages to answer and returns Carol’s smile. Carol is leaning her back against the wall now, and Therese does the same to the opposite wall. They are now completely facing each other. 

“Oh, yes… I had the same problem with grading some papers. The time seems to be playing tricks with us, doesn’t it?”, the older woman smiles shortly and moves her left hand through her blonde hair. “Are you usually staying here during these hours, dear?”

“To be honest, I’m not even sure. I just tend to study without thinking much about it”, the brunette replies and sees the concern cross through Carol’s features. “Oh, but don’t worry! I would never study too much and burn myself out. I just enjoy reading. Too much, probably… But I still get enough of sleep and feel motivated”

“Know your limits, Therese. If you start to feel, even a bit, uneasy with all the work… Never hesitate to come and chat with me”, she says assuringly. “Or to any professor, I mean”, she adds quickly and smiles, more timidly this time. 

They are quiet for a while, but their eyes never change location. They study each other, whether they know it themselves or not. For the first time in weeks, Therese is looking at the woman that she has dreamed of for the past weeks. It feels so wrong, but still like it is worth it. What _“it”_ means in this concept, she doesn’t even know. But she knows that she would risk it all, if it made Carol happy. 

“Your glasses suit you”, Therese blurts out after a minute and blushes immediately afterwards. She can’t believe that the first compliment that she has ever given to Carol is about her eye glasses. How about her eyes? Her smile lines that make the younger woman’s knees weak? Her elegant hands that always have red nail polish to accentuate them even more? 

“Oh, thank you, sweetheart. You are way too kind. The old age comes with downsides only”, the professor chuckles and touches her glasses, as if to prove a point. Therese furrows her brows. “I don’t see any downsides, at least on the outside”

Carol cocks her eyebrow and smiles, so her smile lines are visible. If Therese’s blush had disappeared, it made its way back to cover her face. The younger woman thinks that her tiredness has made her blurt out her thoughts to the whole world. After all, after some point tiredness and drunkenness are very similar states. Therese remembers reading an article about it, and now she feels like a guinea pig to this study.

“What a strange girl you are…”, Carol states and studies Therese’s face. “Flung out of space”, she adds more quietly this time. Therese holds her bag a bit tighter, since she feels like floating away.

They fall into a comfortable silence. The lightning in the hall makes it look like Carol is glowing. Therese has no doubt that she would glow, even without the lightning. Then Therese’s phone starts to ring. The noise fills out the whole hallway, interrupting the silentness. She sighs and shows Carol an apologetic smile, which she returns. Therese takes her phone and sees Genevieve’s caller ID on the screen.

“Hey Gen, what’s up?”, Therese answers to the phone and glances at Carol. She is still looking at Therese, which makes the younger girl feel flustered, but in a good way. In a way that she wants to live in the feeling forever.

“Oh dear God, so you _are_ alive? I thought that someone kidnapped you and got you into human trafficking! What takes you so long to get here, I was super worried! And don’t tell me that you are still in the library…”, Genevieve rambled, Therese has noticed that she does that when she’s nervous. It makes the other girl smile. It is always good to know that someone cares about you this much.

“Calm down, I’m on my way! And please, the way that I look at this right moment… Even traffickers would only offer me some help, a place to sleep and a makeover. This look is called tragic”, Therese smirked and tried to make Genevieve feel better. She guesses that it worked, since Genevieve let out a laugh. 

“Okay, but seriously hurry. It’s already dark outside and you know how much I hate the dark. And you are alone oh my god… If you don’t show up in fifteen minutes, I will… Oh well, _I_ will make _Dannie_ to come and get you”, Genevieve says jokingly, but Therese knows for a fact that she is serious. She promises to see her soon and then hangs up. 

“Someone is waiting for you eagerly, I assume?”, Carol smirks after Therese has put her phone away. The younger woman rolls her eyes. “My roommate can be overly protective. She thinks that if I walk alone in the campus area during the dark hours, someone may come and sell me to a man in Serbia”, Therese answers. 

Carol looks at Therese with a glint in her eye. “Well, if you want your friend to be sure that you get home safely, maybe I should walk with you? Just to make sure that you get there safe and sound”, she proposes. Therese feels the blush creeping its way back to her cheeks.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to burden you with this nonsense, Carol… I mean it’s late and I bet that you would love to leave as soon as possible...”, Therese starts to ramble, but Carol lifts her hand up to silence her. “I insist, Therese. And it would make me feel a lot better too. To see that you get home, I mean”, Carol adds the last part quickly and brushes some of her blonde hair out of her face, behind her ear. 

“If it really isn’t much of a trouble, then sure”, Therese finally answers, which makes Carol smile brightly. “Then that’s that”, Carol decides and starts to walk down the corridor. Therese has no other option, than to walk by her side. 

Therese doesn’t want to admit it out loud, but she feels a lot safer to walk with Carol than by herself. Carol seems to know exactly what Therese needs, even without the verbal communication. Carol’s presence makes the younger woman feel comfortable. At ease. Like everything will work itself out, eventually. Little does she know that the professor feels the exact same way about her.


	5. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Therese goes to party with her friends, but someone is partying with her friend as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made it through with my first finals!! So Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again :)  
> Thank you for being patient with me and my writing! Hope you enjoy this chapter, love you lots! X

“Come on, Terry! Don’t be so dull, it’s Dannie’s birthday”, Genevieve pleads. Therese rolls her eyes at her friend. “I don’t know, Gen. I’m not that type of a girl who goes to bars in general. There are drunk, old men who look at women as if they are objects that they can collect and own”, Therese says and switches her attention back to her first copy-edition of The Handmaid’s Tale, one of Therese’s personal favorites. 

“There can also be older women who want to claim you as their own”, Genevieve says. Therese isn’t even looking at her friend, she doesn’t bother, but she can hear the smirk in her voice. “Who would love to walk you back to your dorm… Just so they can see that you get there safe and sound”, Genevieve sighs overdramatically and bats her long eyelashes at Therese. 

“Who will make sure that you are feeling alright… And not stressed… And if you are, maybe they can make some arrangements…”, Genevieve starts but doesn’t have a chance to finish her sentence, because Therese throws a pillow at her. “Jesus Christ, Gen! Stop”, Therese giggles, but she can’t hide her flushed face. 

“So is that a yes!?”, Genevieve squeaks. “If it makes you shut up, then yes”, Therese finally gives in. The new information makes Genevieve jump on top of Therese, which makes the shorter woman drop her book. “You shithead, now I lost my page”, Therese laughs when Genevieve clings onto her. “Like you would’ve been lost if Mrs Someone didn’t walk you back to your dorm… So brave of her”, Genevieve giggles and rolls to lie next to her friend. 

It has been exactly a week since Carol and Therese stumbled into each other at the university corridor. Carol and Therese had walked back to Therese’s dorm, and the journey had been pleasant. To be quite frank, it had been one of the best moments in Therese’s life. 

They had talked about Therese’s studies and Carol’s teaching. Therese had learnt that Carol wanted to become a doctor when she was younger, but moral philosophy had lured her in college. Therese told Carol about her passion to help and understand people. That’s why she loved psychology, it helps her to understand and be there for everyone. With that, Carol had squeezed Therese’s arm. She had explained that Therese was so very wise and she admired her passion towards people. She didn’t let go of her arm until they were in front of Therese’s dorm. Carol had wished her a wonderful night and kissed her cheek gently. With that, she was gone.

Therese can still feel the kiss if she focuses hard enough. She smiles stupidly each time, but she couldn’t care less. The brunette’s mind has been filled with Carol, more than ever, for the past week. Her blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, delicate smile lines. Her perfume, soft hands, laugh that sounds like a lullaby. The warm feeling that fills Therese’s whole body when she is near her. How she could just cry, because she treats Therese with this certain tenderness and adoration. She makes her feel special. She makes her feel like breathing is easier. 

In the evening, Therese finds herself in her light turquoise dress, nude pumps and face full of makeup. She doesn’t even recognize the woman from her reflection. Therese walks out of the bathroom to meet Genevieve, who is waiting her at the door. She is wearing black dress with long, see through sleeves. She has also black stilettos with red bottoms and red lipstick to make it seem a bit more colorful. 

“Damn it, Therese! You look smoking! Wow!”, Genevieve gushes and hugs her friend. Therese laughs and hugs her back. “Me? Have you seen yourself! Absolutely gorgeous!”

There’s a knock at the door. “You two little bats, why did you tell me to dress up! Open up or I will use my gay magic to open the door myself! All gay men are witches, and I’m the fucking supreme”, Dannie shouts behind the door and keeps banging at the door. 

Therese and Genevieve smirk to each other and open the door. “We’re going to get hammered, baby! Happy birthday!”, Genevieve yells and Dannie screams in response. If someone was sleeping somewhere in the campus, they must’ve been awake by now because of all the yelling.

“And you got Terry to go as well! You two little dykes! I love you both so much, let’s go get some D and tea”, Dannie says and everyone laughs. “Come on now, we all know that you will only get a lawsuit because you are a homosexual with mimosas in his system”, Therese smirks and they all start to walk out of the building. 

The Uber ride was chaotic to say at least. Dannie decided to open a champagne bottle, since he couldn’t wait ten minutes. He got already tipsy and tried to talk with the driver. He asked the driver’s zodiac sign, and gagged when he replied that he was a Virgo. Once they were at their destination, Therese tipped the driver more than necessary. He deserved it.

Once they get inside the bar, Therese decides that she likes it. The bar was fancy, but not too fancy. You can still dance when Kylie Minogue is playing through the speakers, but it’s not full of teenagers with fake IDs. They decide to order drinks first, all though they have all started drinking in the car. But as Dannie has said, body needs lots of fluids. 

Therese takes a seat at the bar stool and looks around. The darkness fills up the space, but lights keep flashing through it. Pink, green, blue and red keep filling Therese’s gaze, one at a time. “Someone who has epilepsy has probably died at this very bar”, Dannie comments, which makes Genevieve cackle. 

After two or three drinks, the trio has made their way to the dance floor. Ariana Grande is blasting through the speakers, and Therese can feel the music making its way through her veins. Dannie is screaming the lyrics and dancing his worries away, Genevieve is chatting away with some blonde woman with legs for days and Therese is making sure that her two friends won’t get kidnapped. 

After a couple of songs, Therese decides to go to the bathroom. She feels like her makeup looks awful and her eyes need to see some real light. The brunette woman stumbles into a large bathroom. It has multiple sinks, and above them is a huge mirror. There are many stalls behind her, and the walls have inspiring words written in calligraphy. 

Therese starts to fix her makeup and straightens her dress. She hears chatter coming outside the bathroom, and the door opens. Then the smell hits her like a truck. _The perfume._ Her eyes widen and she looks at her reflection. She looks like a child, not like a wise and well educated adult. The women linger at the doorway, so Therese does what anyone would do. She goes to one of the stalls and locks the door. 

“Abigail, would you be so kind and shut the hell up? You must admit that this bar was a mistake, but why would I be surprised? You just want to hit on younger woman, it’s like as if they give you more youth and strength”, the familiar voice scoffs and the door closes. Therese closes her eyes and bites her lip.

“Oh, like you don’t enjoy this show that the youth is giving to us? Don’t be a prude, Carol. For example, I know that you fancy a certain someone… And their age isn’t…”, Abby starts, but her sentence gets interrupted by her own scream. “Stop hitting me, you nitwit!”

Carol’s laugh fills up the entire bathroom, which makes Therese smile. “Our situations are completely different. You just want to check out some drunken women, who could be your own children agewise. Meanwhile I crave for something lasting… With this person. I just want her to be safe and happy”, the older woman claims.

Therese’s eyes widen. Her? Carol likes women? “But it will never work out”, Carol ends her speech, and Therese knows that she is smiling a sad smile. She can hear it from her voice, and it breaks her heart. 

“Oh, stop it with the pity party. Come on now, let’s go! We will have fun tonight so you can forget about her. It’s not like the campus squad is going to be here tonight”, Abby snorts and then the bathroom door falls shut. They are gone. 

Therese exits from the stall and pushes herself against the sinks. Carol has a crush on a woman? What did Abby mean by referring to some people as campus squad? The brunette’s head keeps spinning, and for once, it isn’t because of the amount of alcohol that she has been drinking. 

After a while, Therese decides that it’s time to leave the bathroom. She opens the door, but her mind is not with her. Her mind keeps playing the conversation between her two professors. It doesn’t come as a surprise that she gets startled, when someone is opening the door at the same time as her. 

“Oh dear, I am so sorry if I spooked you”, a soothing voice embraces her. Therese feels like faith is playing games with her. “Oh my, Therese?”

Therese lifts her gaze and smiles warmly at Carol. She is not prepared at the sight in front of her. Carol is wearing a short, white dress and a bit longer fur coat. Her whole body looks like a statue made out of marble. Her breath hitches. “Hey Carol, lovely to see you”, Therese finally blurts out. 

“Likewise. You look absolutely ravishing”, Carol states. Therese blushes and avoids Carol’s gaze. “Oh, you are way too kind… Thank you”, she smiles and crosses her arms around her middle. She feels like a crushed dollar bill standing next to Carol, whom looks like a million bucks. 

“Only stating the facts, sweetheart”, Carol points out and brushes her hand through Therese’s hair that has fallen to her face. Therese stops breathing and gets lost in Carol’s eyes. Carol lowers her hand to the brunette’s cheek and strokes it lightly. 

Therese thinks that the alcohol is still present in her blood system, because she lifts her hand and starts to stroke the smooth fur that covers Carol’s ribs. “Your jacket is very elegant, it suits you very well”, Therese whispers and turns her gaze from the jacket to the blonde’s eyes. She swears that the light blue has turned a bit to a darker shade. 

“Thank you, Therese. I love the color of your dress. Is blue your favorite color?”, Carol asks with a glint in her eyes. “I didn’t think much of it a while ago, but lately I feel inspired every time I see something blue. It’s such a rich color”, Therese answers, and blushes when Carol looks at her with an unwavering look.

“You are very wise, Therese. And I mean it, from the bottom of my heart! I asked you such a simple question, and you gave me an answer. An answer that is so wholehearted and beautiful… You truly are something else”, Carol moves her hand to Therese’s shoulder and starts to massage it. Therese notices that whenever Carol touches her, she is very gentle. As if she would break. It makes Therese feel giddy that someone thinks like that about her. She could just cry because she feels so lucky. 

“I could say the same thing about you”, Therese answers after a moment of silence. Carol smiles so that her smile lines become visible. Therese wishes that Carol would smile as much as possible, that she would be truly happy. If not with her, then with someone else. She only cares about Carol and what’s best for her. 

Therese wishes that she could be able to touch Carol whenever she wanted. To wake up next to her when the morning has arrived and painted the whole bedroom with different shades of orange. To make Carol see herself like Therese sees her, a perfect example of the word perfection. Carol brings so much joy to Therese’s life and she only wishes to return it back to her, somehow. 

“What are you thinking about, dearest? You have been quiet for some time now”, Carol asks and a look of concern crosses her face. Therese feels like she has two options, to lie or to tell the truth. The alcohol screams for the truth, as does her heart. But her brain is telling her to lie. 

“You”, Therese says quietly. So quietly that she wonders if she even said it out loud at all. Therese figures that she did, when Carol takes a shuddering breath a second later and scoffs. “Why on Earth would you be thinking of me, Therese?”

Therese closes her eyes for a moment and exhales. Here goes nothing. She opens her eyes and looks deeply into Carol’s eyes. “I think about you, because you are such a wonderful person, Carol. You make me feel like I’m something else than ordinary, and it makes me feel… Well, it makes me feel that maybe I am. People say you rule me with one wave of your hand, and if that’s so… I have no regrets and I’m not scared of it”, Therese finally blurts out her thoughts. Thoughts that keep her up at night. 

Therese notices that Carol’s eyes twinkle more than usual. Her eyes look like they have constellations in them. “Therese, I… I don’t know what to say…”, she whispers and rubs Therese’s arm in slow circles.

“You don’t need to say anything… Carol, I’m so sorry, I should go…”, Therese says quickly and starts to walk away. Carol tightens her grip on Therese’s arm and pulls her back. “Please, don’t”, the older woman pleads. Therese can’t say no to her, so she turns to face her once again. 

“Thank you”, Carol smiles a bit. Therese isn’t sure why she is thanking her, for the words or for staying instead of leaving. The brunette decides to smile and nod. It doesn’t matter what she has done right, she’s just glad that Carol approves it. 

“You truly are something else, Therese, aren’t you?”, Carol wonders out loud and looks deeply into Therese’s eyes. “I must say that your feelings and thoughts make my heart filled with joy. For crying out loud, you seem to be much wiser than I am”, she smirks, which makes Therese laugh lightly. She starts to bite her lower lip, because this sounds like Carol will tell her to stop dreaming about her. It would be more than understandable, damn you shots and margaritas. 

“I don’t want to take advantage of you or whatsoever. I want to do, whatever this is, properly. Because please know, that I want all of this as much as you do”, Carol says quietly, as if talking any louder would break this bubble that they live in at this right moment. “Would you like to go and have a coffee with me on Sunday?”

That’s not what Therese expected to hear at all. She starts to smile unwittingly and nod her head. “Yes, I would like that very much”, she finally manages to say, which makes Carol smile as well. 

“Well, that’s that then”, Carol says simply and offers her phone to Therese. She types her number in Carol’s phone and gives it back. “I will text you the details tomorrow, alright?”, she smiles and puts the phone back to her purse. Therese can only nod, she can’t even form any words anymore. 

“Well, I should get going. Abby must be wondering where on Earth did I go. See you on Sunday, Therese”, the blonde woman shrugs and squeezes Therese’s arm one last time. “Have a lovely night”, she smiles. “You too, Carol. See you on Sunday”, Therese smiles back. With that, Carol is gone.

Therese needs to lean to the wall, because her legs would surely give up on her otherwise. This surely wasn’t how she thought her night would turn out to be. She wouldn’t change anything though, this was perfect. For once, Therese felt like maybe dreaming is not a waste of time after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When everyone else did their task in math class, I decided to find clothes for our ladies. 
> 
> Therese’s dress: https://bit.ly/2JxFR4m
> 
> Carol’s dress: https://on.ysl.com/2CvHqdh
> 
> Carol’s jacket: https://bit.ly/2HQX2LY
> 
> Genevieve’s dress: https://bit.ly/2UdSq96
> 
> Abby’s dress (even though she barely even made it to this chapter): https://bit.ly/2COJ1ev


	6. Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday finally arrives and Therese cannot be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently my updating schedule is once a month, my apologies!  
> Thank you for clicking this chapter, hopefully I didn't let you down with this :)

After Friday, comes Saturday. It takes around 48 hours for Friday to become Sunday. These hours feels like forever to Therese, but it has all been worth it. When Therese opens up her eyes on Sunday morning, she feels like a ray of sunshine. The first warm breeze that greets you in April after a cold winter describes the brunette’s mood perfectly. Therese checks her phone that lays beside her bed and sees a notification.

_7:28AM Hello Therese! Does 3PM sound alright to you? Hope you slept well! -C_

The smitten woman cannot hide the blush that has creeped its way to her cheeks. After the magical counter with Carol on Friday night, the professor has made sure to keep contact with Therese. On Saturday morning she made sure that Therese got back home safe and sound and that she has enjoyed lots of water. During the day Carol has sent Therese the oddest and funniest replies from some test that Carol had held to her students. The test was about behaviourism and what some famous philosophers would say about that. 

_7:52AM Morning Carol! 3pm sounds lovely :) I (Immanuel) Kant wait to see you. -T_

Therese looks at the message. It was absolutely awful and she has lost the last ounce of respect that she once carried. But it was too late now. The brunette decides to get up, since her excitement and nervousness rates are getting higher than Snoop Dogg.

She looks at the other bed, where Genevieve is still asleep. Therese hasn’t told about the encounter with Carol to Genevieve nor Dannie. She decides that it’s for the best. It’s not that she doesn’t trust her two best friends, it’s just that she wants to know what all of this is before getting her hopes up. Therese also wants to appreciate Carol’s privacy and wishes, so she must keep her mouth shut for now. 

Her phone vibrates again, which makes Therese smile even wider. 

_7:55AM Oh, how come I didn’t come up with that myself… That is so (David) Hume-liating. But the feeling is mutual. See you in seven hours or so, darling. -C_

Therese wants to scream. _Darling!?_ She decides to put her energy into something, it is worthless to just stand in the middle of the apartment and stare at her phone. So she changes her clothes, puts sneakers on and decides to go for a run.

\- - - - - - - - - - 

“Oh, come on! You barely ever even brush your hair, Terry! Just tell me, where are you going on this fine Sunday afternoon?”, Genevieve groans as Therese is applying mascara. “While I appreciate your curiosity, I need to let you down once again. I am not meeting anyone, I am just going outside! That’s all”, she hums in reply.

“But you brushed your hair! You are applying makeup for crying out loud!”, Genevieve exaggerates and throws her hands in the air out of frustration. Therese smirks to her behaviour and adds pink toned blush to her cheeks. 

Finally Therese starts to fix her hair. “I am sorry that I don’t have some juicy gossip for you. Trust me, I feel more sad than you do. I’m just going to this coffee shop and study a bit”, she looks at her friend through the mirror. Genevieve only sighs and accepts her loss. Therese smiles to her kindly and messes up her hair a bit to make it look more natural. It looks better than the reality, where she has started to get ready three hours before meeting Carol.

“Okay… But just so you know, I will invite Dannie around! And we will write fanfictions about your lesbian life with the professor and everyone else… See, we can have fun too”, Genevieve smirks. Therese decides to roll her eyes and laugh. Only if she knew what was really going on… Then Therese’s phone beeped. She grabbed it faster than light.

_2:24PM Everything is ready over here! I will make the basic apology how my house is messy, but in reality I have cleaned it up since morning. Please, notice it when you enter. -C_

After that message there was another one, which was Carol’s current location. Therese couldn’t help it but let out a laugh. She is so mesmerized with Carol and adores her sense of humour. She types a reply quickly.

_2:25PM I will make sure to say the usual you-should-see-my-place-comment at the door. I’m going to leave soon! -T_

“Who was it?”, Genevieve asks from her bed and glances at Therese behind the phone that she’s holding. “Oh, just a notification from Twitter”, Therese lies and gets up. “You and your memes…”, Genevieve mumbles and turns her attention back to her phone. 

Therese puts her ankle boots on and grabs her purse from the table. “I’m going to leave now. If anything happens or you just simply need me, call me”, she says and checks her makeup one last time. “And you remember the rules? You just simply text something that has the word jail in it, and I will come and rescue you”, Genevieve states. The system is something that Genevieve, Therese and Dannie have made up. It has saved all of them from situations, for example bad dates or uncomfortable events. “I remember. Love you, have fun”, Therese smiles and exits the apartment. The young woman looks at the shared location when she’s at the hallway. It’s not that far away, only 10 blocks or so from her current location. So Therese decides to walk.

\- - - - - - - - - - 

Therese doesn’t know what to expect, but when she’s standing in front of a small, white detached house, it seems pretty accurate. The apartment looks like it has fiveish rooms and it’s very modern. The windows are large and the younger woman can already see a glimpse of one of the rooms. Therese takes a deep breath and walks to the front door. The door is yellow, which makes her smile. The house seems to sum up Carol’s personality, modern, elegant, but still playful. She knocks the yellow door three times, afraid to come across as eager.

The door opens and Therese is greeted with Carol’s bright smile. “You made it here safe and sound! Hello and welcome to my cave”, Carol says as she checks out Therese’s outfit. Therese does the same to Carol. The professor is wearing a beige knitted sweater with a v-neck and black jeans. Therese notices how Carol has put her hair up with a clip, and her eyeglasses are on the top of her head. “Thank you for the invite”, Therese finally manages to say. “The pleasure is all mine”, Carol winks and Therese is sure that she is hallucinating. 

“Oh, how rude of me! Please, come in”, Carol laughs lightly and steps out of the way. Therese smiles as a thank you and steps inside. Her arm brushes Carol’s in the process which makes the younger woman’s breath hitch. “You look lovely today”, the blonde muses as she closes the door. Therese is glad that she decided to wear blush, maybe her natural blushing isn’t so visible this way. She’s only wearing a black turtleneck and, her favorite, light blue paper-bag pants. “Thank you, I was about to say the same about you”, she smiles. 

“Please, make yourself feel at home. Do you want anything to drink, Therese?”, Carol asks kindly. Every single time Carol says Therese’s name out loud, it makes butterflies fly wildly inside of the younger woman’s lower abdomen. “Water would be great, thank you”, Therese smiles and gets a smile in return. “You can go ahead and wait me in the living room. It will only take a second”, the blonde woman points behind her and walks to the left. 

Therese takes her time to the living room. There are many paintings covering every wall. Many of them are colorful, but some have only different shades of black and grey. Therese almost gasps when she sees a vinyl recorder. She drags her fingertips gently through the wood and needle. She closes her eyes and imagines Carol using it on late Friday nights, when she doesn’t have anything else to do. She can almost hear the smooth jazz filling up the living room. 

“I see that you found Vinnie the Vinyl”, Carol laughs softly. Therese startles and opens her eyes quickly. Her gaze goes to Carol’s eyes that radiate warmth. “I’m sorry that I snooped around… I am just curious”, Therese laughs awkwardly. Carol sets two mugs to the marble table that is in the middle of the room. “Don’t apologize, darling. You can ask me anything and as I told you before, make yourself at home”, she says softly and walks behind the brunette. Carol reaches behind the recorder, so her cleavage is pressed against Therese’s back. The younger woman swears that she has died and this is heaven. Warmness fills up Therese’s veins and the feeling is intoxicating. 

“Easy Living by Billie Holiday… Such a divine single, especially when you listen it with this beauty”, Carol sighs and grabs the vinyl that she’s talking about. “I would love to hear it”, Therese finally manages to muster. Carol seems to be delighted and puts the vinyl onto the platform. She does all of this while Therese is between her arms. The younger woman can smell her perfume up close and she decides that this is her new favorite scent. Even rainy mornings in the summer don’t compare to this. 

Carol lowers the needle and soft notes fill the apartment. “Let’s sit down”, Carol suggests and takes Therese’s hand in hers. She walks them to the black couch and sits down, Therese following the lead. They don’t let go of each others hands. Therese looks into Carol’s eyes, a gesture that makes Therese feel at peace. The brunette feels the other woman stroking her hand gently. 

“Thank you, again, for inviting me here, Carol. And thank you for being so kind to me at all times”, Therese says quietly. The music in the background makes Therese feel safer to say things out loud. Carol’s eyes fill up with emotion, Therese can notice it now easier than before. She squeezes Therese’s hand a bit tighter. “Of course, Therese… Anything for you”

Therese can feel that both of them just know. They know that this is exactly where they are supposed to be. That life has created this path and this is the final destination, so the new path can start. The affection that Therese feels towards Carol is so intense that it’s eating her alive. She keeps searching something, anything, behind Carol’s eyes. They radiate warmth and safety. Therese knows that she understands the meaning of home now.

The sound of needle being dragged through an empty vinyl is the only sound filling up the room. Therese swears that she can hear her heart pounding, it’s so loud and she is sure that she will burst at any minute now. “Carol, I just…”, Therese starts quietly, but doesn’t know how to end the sentence. “I know, honey”, Carol whispers and interlocks their fingers. 

It has been mutual pining. Almost two months of sleepless nights, and when the sleep finally comes, dreaming of one another. Therese hates to admit it, but there isn’t a minute when Carol doesn’t pop up in her thoughts. When she sees something red, she thinks about Carol. When she sees a quote that is full of wisdom and deep thoughts, she thinks about Carol. When a stupid and cliche love song is playing on the radio, she thinks about Carol. It would be Carol, always.

“I’m going to be very honest to you right now, Therese”, Carol breaks the silence after what seems like hours, but must’ve been a few minutes. Therese can only nod. “You are something very special. Your wisdom keeps amazing me day after day, and I want to know everything about you. You fascinate me. You excite me in a way that no one has before. But I am afraid. I’m much older than you, and you have your whole life ahead of you… I couldn’t live with myself if I knew that I’m taking those years from you. I don’t want you to feel obligated to do anything or be a barrier in your life”, she says quietly and Therese can see the vulnerability in her eyes. 

“Carol, please. You’re not taking anything from me… It’s the opposite, really. You have already given me so much, and I would love to receive even more. I would love to unlock more lockers of you and explore everything that you are willing to show me”, Therese answers and touches Carol’s cheek carefully. She leans into her touch. 

“And I know where I’m getting into. I don’t have any other option, I knew that I was a lost case two months ago when I saw you for the first time”, the younger woman states and strokes Carol’s cheek gently. 

“I have been feeling the same way… The first time I saw those green eyes I just knew that everything has changed. And I can’t do anything about it”, Carol says and shows a shy smile. Therese blushes and smiles back at the blonde. 

“Therese, may I kiss you?”, Carol whispers after a moment of silence. “Like you even need to ask”, Therese answers immediately. Carol lets out a laugh, which makes Therese smile. Carol leans closer to Therese and studies her face, as if to notice even a tiny bit of doubt. When she sees none, she presses her lips gently against Therese’s. Therese squeezes their interlocked fingers and gets lost into the kiss.

It’s not fireworks or a volcanic eruption. It’s more like coming home after a long day of work. Or when you work really hard for something, and the work finally pays off. It’s like when a child finds their favourite toy that had went missing for a while. Everything seems to be okay and work itself out.

Carol strokes Therese’s ribs whereas Therese draws patterns with her fingers on Carol’s neck. After a few moments, Carol relocates her lips to Therese’s neck and presses a few kisses there. “I think that it’s impossible to go back to normal life after this”, Carol smiles against Therese’s skin. Therese lets out a breathy laugh. “I think that we should reconsider the word normal after this”, she replies. 

Carol lifts her head and looks at Therese’s flushed face. “You look so beautiful”, she drawls. “As do you, Carol. Every single day”, Therese smiles and kisses Carol’s lips once more. The act makes Carol smile as well. 

“So… Would you say that I shouldn’t John Locke into this, or if this was something that I should Karl Marx into my calendar as a special date?”, Therese says seriously after a beat of silence, but cannot hide her giggle. The apartment fills with Carol’s laugh and Therese receives a slap on her thigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kind words and supporting me! I appreciate each and every single one of you from the bottom of my lesbian heart <3  
> I cannot believe that this was the sixth chapter already!? I have no idea how many chapters this fic will have, we will see as we go!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for supporting! <3  
> Please, feel free to comment your thoughts and suggestions down below! I would love to chat with you all :) X


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